The critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle return to the beaches of Texas and Mexico in April, May and June every year to lay their nests. See map of nesting locations here. Watch this page for daily updates direct from Carole Allen, our Gulf of Mexico Director, and sea turtle biologist Donna Shaver of Padre Island National Seashore. Read more about the Kemp's ridley and see the nesting video.

KEMP'S RIDLEY SEA TURTLE NESTING SEASON 2010 - TEXAS

The first nest was laid at  Padre Island National Seashore on April 24, 2010. On May 10, 15 nests were found. On May 19, 20 nests were found including four on the Upper Texas Coast.  On Wednesday, June 9, 20 Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests were found on the Texas coast. (Unfortunately, over 30 dead Kemp's ridleys have been found on the Upper Texas Coast since April 1. Although there are several causes for mortality in sea turtles, those found were mostly juveniles. Shrimping in the area has been heavy and years of research shows the correlation of shrimping and sea turtle stranding.)

TEXAS SEA TURTLES - August 28, 2010


KEMP'S RIDLEY TURTLE

So far this year, 140 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state):

Bolivar Peninsula 3 Galveston Island 8 Brazoria County, just north of Surfside 2 Surfside Beach 1 Quintana Beach 0 Bryan Beach 1 Matagorda Peninsula 2 Matagorda Island 2 San Jose Island 1 Mustang Island 5  Padre Island 82, including 74 at Padre Island National Seashore South Padre Island 28 Boca Chica Beach 4

LOGGERHEAD TURTLE
So far this year, 7 loggerhead nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state):
Bolivar Peninsula 0
Galveston Island 0
Brazoria County, just north of Surfside 0 Surfside Beach 0 Quintana Beach 0 Bryan Beach 0 Matagorda Peninsula 0 Matagorda Island 0 San Jose Island 0 Mustang Island 0 North Padre Island 7, including 7 at Padre Island National Seashore South Padre Island 1 Boca Chica Beach 0

GREEN TURTLE
So far this year, 7 green turtle nests has been confirmed on the Texas coast
including (north to south in state):
Bolivar Peninsula 0
Galveston Island 0
Brazoria County, just north of Surfside 0
Surfside Beach 0
Quintana Beach 0
Bryan Beach 0
Matagorda Peninsula 0
Matagorda Island 0
San Jose Island 0
Mustang Island 0
North Padre Island 7, including 7 at Padre Island National Seashore
South Padre Island 0
Boca Chica Beach 0



Data presented here are preliminary. Do not cite or quote without
permission. For further information, contact Dr. Donna J. Shaver, Chief, Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at the Padre Island National Seashore. http://www.nps.gov/pais/

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KEMP'S RIDLEY SEA TURTLE NESTING SEASON 2009

On August 4, one older Kemp's ridley sea turtle nest was found on the Texas
coast, on Matagorda Island. This was at a site found earlier this year,
where tracks from the nesting female were found, but a nest could not be
located initially.

Additionally, the location has been corrected from one nest found on San
Bernard National Wildlife Refuge to one nest found in Brazoria County north
of Sargent Beach.

So far this year, 197 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the Texas
coast including (north to south in state):

Bolivar Peninsula 1
Galveston Island 3
Brazoria County, north of Surfside 3
Surfside Beach 0
Quintana Beach 2
Bryan Beach 2
Brazoria County, north of Sargent Beach 1
Sargent Beach 1
Matagorda Peninsula 3
Matagorda Island 8
San Jose Island 4
Mustang Island 2
Corpus Christ Bay 1
North Padre Island 124, including 117 at Padre Island National Seashore
South Padre Island 33
Boca Chica Beach 9

This sets a new record for the number of Kemp's ridley nests found on the
Texas coast during a single year since record keeping efforts began on the
Texas coast in the early 1980s. The previous record was 195, set in 2008.